You’re going camping in the backcountry and you’re looking for a non-perishable protein food to add to your dinner? Well, dehydrated ground beef is an excellent option. Here is how I make my homemade dehydrated ground beef. Most people use a dehydrator for this, but I’m gonna show you how to do it with a classic oven.
Just so you know, 800g of dehydrated ground beef can cost up to 130$ if you want to order it online … So doing it at home for 15-20$ is totally worth it.
Ingredients
The list of ingredients is pretty simple :
- Lean or Extra lean ground beef – Use the quantity you need. The less fat, the faster the dehydration process will be.
- 1/2 cup of bread crumbs for every 500g of beef – This will help the beef rehydrate when the time comes.
- Seasoning to your liking : Salt, pepper, brown sugar, steak seasoning, whatever you want. You will be happy to have all this flavour in your backpacking trip.
Note : An adult can eat about 150-250g of meat in one meal. It depends of the intensity of the backcountry activity you are doing. Think about your necessary calorie intake.
Preparation
No fancy cooking, just the steps in order to dehydrate your ground beef :
- Preheat your oven to 150°C (if your oven doesn’t go as low as 150°C, just go as low as possible. For example, my oven was not going lower than 170°C and the dehydration process worked just fine).
- Preheat a pan at medium heat for the ground beef. Use as little oil as possible.
- Mix the ground beef with the bread crumbs and the seasoning.
- Thoroughly cook the beef until there is no pink left in the meat. About 7-10 minutes, no need for overcooking.
Tip : Try to chop the beef into the smallest pieces possible. - Remove the excess fat. You can use a food strainer, a paper towel or what works best for you. The less fat there is, the easier the dehydration process will be.
- Prepare a baking sheet (or many) with parchment paper.
- Spread the beef evenly on the baking sheet. Don’t try to add too much on the same baking sheet, it will only slow down the process.
- Cook the beef in the oven for about 7-10 hours. Every 1-2 hours, check-up on your beef and stir the beef pieces in the backing sheet. Break up the larger pieces that seems to have more moisture.
How to know if the dehydrated ground beef is ready?
When the beef is dehydrated, it should be crispy, dark, and dry, almost crumbly. If you pick it up with your fingers, there shouldn’t be any grease or moisture left on your fingers.
Tip : After cooking, let the beef rest at room temperature to ensure that all the heat escapes. If you put it directly in a bag or in a jar, heat could build up and create moisture. Keep in mind that it is the absence of moisture in the meat that prevents it from going bad.
How long does dehydrated ground beef can last?
Personnaly, I had no problems keeping my dehydrated ground beef for at least a few weeks in just a plastic bag.
The shelf life depends on the beef, the recipe and the technique you used, but you could keep it for 6 to 12 months if you store it and seal it properly. Ideally, you want to store it in a cool and dark place. Vacuum sealing your dehydrated food is a good option to preserve it longer.
Recipe idea – Dehydrated beef and veggie ramen
Some people like to just eat the dehydrated ground beef as is. Personnaly, I like to add it in a more complete meal. I’ve used this beef veggie ramen recipe in multi-days camping trips and it is pretty satysfying. The ingredients are light in your pack but the flavors are heavy!
All you have to do is add the dehydrated veggies and the ground beef in a boiling pot of water. You can also add the small packets of ramen broth powder. When you feel like the the texture is good and everything is well hydrated, you can add the ramens for 3-4 minutes and it’s ready.
Ingredients
- Dehydrated ground beef (you just made it)
- Dehydrated vegetables (you can make them yourself or buy them at your local grocery store, they’re pretty cheap compared to dehydrated beef)
- Packs of ramen (with packets of broth powder)
- Water
Tip for a less crunchy ground beef
Let’s be honest, eating dehydrated ground beef probably won’t have the same texture as when you make it at home. Rehydrating food like this will probably take a good 15-30 minutes or even more if the water is not completely boiling.
What you can do to reduce the waiting time, is just add cold water to your dehydrated beef a few hours before dinner. It will really give time to the food to absorb the water.
Also, as mentionned earlier, adding breadcrumbs in your preparation will help the beef absorb the water more efficiently.